


Running the Gauntlet

by kitsunerei88



Series: Revolutionary Arc Plus Extras [12]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Rigel Black Series - murkybluematter, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Door Games, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fanfiction of Fanfiction, Fluff, Gen, RevArc, Rigel Black Exchange, Rigelverse, The Pureblood Pretense, The Rigel Black Chronicles, The Rigel Black Series, Wedding Fluff, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 10:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23349673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitsunerei88/pseuds/kitsunerei88
Summary: There is a wedding, and because there is a wedding, there are door games.
Series: Revolutionary Arc Plus Extras [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1722145
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27
Collections: Rigel Black Chronicles Appreciation, Rigel Black Exchange Round 1





	Running the Gauntlet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elsin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elsin/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Vanguard](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22973080) by [kitsunerei88](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitsunerei88/pseuds/kitsunerei88). 



“Door games are so outdated,” Graeme complained, tugging his traditional surcoat on. “You know that, right? Fei says no one does them in Singapore anymore.”

“Tina wants door games,” Will replied, an edge to his voice. Neal was pretty sure it wasn’t the door games giving him the edge, so much as it was his upcoming nuptials that afternoon. Assuming they could get him through the gauntlet of whatever the Kowalski siblings managed to throw at them to earn their favour, that was. “Tina wants door games, and she’s getting door games, so you’re helping me. It’s _traditional_.”

“I have the money,” Jessa added, appearing from behind them in a blue-and-gold _qipao_ , a blue shawl glowing with heating runes around her shoulders. She slapped a pile of red envelopes in her hands, folding them out into a fan for them all to see. “If they throw anything too crazy at us, we’ll buy them off."

“How much is that?” Neal asked suspiciously, eyeing the envelopes. Jessa was seventeen, not even out of Ilvermorny yet, and she didn’t have any money of her own. She had to have helped herself to his bank accounts. Again.

“Not willing to give up a bit of money for the good cause of getting our brother married?” She shot him an impish grin. “You’re heartless, Neal.”

“ _Jessa_ …”

She laughed. “Eighty pounds each, and I have nine red bags here. Lucky numbers, and all that.”

Neal ran the numbers in his head. “That’s _seven hundred and twenty pounds,_ Jess! Over a thousand Canadian dollars!”

“You can afford it.” She shrugged, flippant, tucking the red bags into the tiny bag she carried at her side with her fan. “You wouldn’t even notice, if I didn’t tell you. Come on, before Will dies of the stress. Door games are fun! We’re supposed to _help_ him, everyone.”

“Helping him is not my usual role as the eldest brother.” Graeme sighed, but he was smiling as he slung an arm over Will’s shoulders. “But I’ll make an exception for your wedding day.”

Francesca Lam stood in the middle of the lists, already in her dark blue bridesmaid gown, her own heated shawl over her shoulders. December and cold it might be, but she showed no sign of it. Instead, her eyes sparkled with mischief and she had sheaf of paper in her hands. She took a moment to scan the four Queenscoves standing in front of her.

“It’s time for _d_ _ǔm_ _én_ _y_ _óux_ _ì_ – or, in my language, _wan san long!_ ” She announced, a bright smile spreading across her face. “You, William Queenscove, want to marry my sister, Porpentina Kowalski, so let’s see if you deserve it. We, the Kowalskis, have prepared _four_ challenges for you. For the first three, you are allowed to receive help from your siblings, but the last challenge must be done alone. As you know, you aren’t allowed to see Tina until you pass our tests, but you can be sure that she’s watching.”

“And recording,” Will muttered, but Neal still caught it, and by the way Francesca’s eyes flicked over to him, she had heard it too. She ignored it.

“Your first challenge is a test of intelligence.” She took three steps forward, tiny steps because she was wearing her evening heels already and handed Will the sheaf of paper in her hands. “A man who wants to marry my sister must be _smart_.”

“ _Taberbak._ ” Graeme said, peeking over Will’s shoulder. Dreading what he would see, Neal leaned over and looked too, only to see a page of numbers and symbols, algebra springing off the page at him. He hadn’t done math like this in years – not since third-year No-Maj Studies, and a bit in No-Maj Medicine.

“Your Mandarin is shit, you know,” Jessa said conversationally, fishing in her bag for the pile of red bags. “How about we pay you off, Francesca? You could pay for some elocution classes.”

Francesca yawned, too big and unimpressed, and obviously faked. “I’m from Hong Kong by way of California. I don’t need to know Mandarin.”

“I mean, there are a lot of other things you could buy with money.” Jessa tried again, waving the fan of red bags in front of the other girl. She was taller than Francesca, even without heels. “Clothes, books, CDs…”

“Save it for the next few challenges,” Francesca replied, shooing her back to where Will was already frowning with a pen, puzzling his way through the first few problems.

“ _Câlice_ ,” Jessa muttered, turning back and putting her head close to Will and Neal’s. “I can’t do math. I’m going to go join the cheering section with Graeme.”

“Hard to bribe someone already rich,” Neal replied absently, taking the second page of the math test. “We’ll split it, Will. Hand me a pen.”

It took them an hour to do the math test, between the two of them. It wasn’t that the test was _long_ , only about six pages, but the questions got harder as they went on, and it was material that the two of them barely remembered, if they had ever known it. Francesca seemed completely content to watch them from a bench on the other side of the lists, and Neal could have sworn she was smirking. When they finished it, they handed it to her, and watched as she scored it against a sheet she already had at her side.

“Forty-eight percent.” She shook her head in mock pity. “That’s not just an Asian-fail, that’s a real fail. I’m disappointed.” She pouted, and Neal had never seen a more fake expression in his entire life.

“Jessa!” Will was faster than Neal, this time.

“I’ll let it go for, hmmm… four of those red bags.” Francesca finished, holding her hand out for Will to slap four red bags in her hand, which she promptly tucked under a bra strap. She paused again, this one not for effect, and then she smiled. “I _suppose_ I can give you two pity points for the two shameful expressions you’re wearing right now. You pass my challenge.”

She walked off the field, patting her brother, John Kowalski, on the shoulder as he appeared from the barracks, on the far end of the lists. _Tabernak_.

“Your next challenge,” John said, reaching them with a wicked grin on his face, “is a test of mental fortitude. You can have your siblings help you with this one, though I’m not sure how much help they’ll be.”

That was about as much warning as Will got before John assaulted his mind, a full mental assault that drove Will to one knee.

“Out of the way, little bro,” Graeme said, shoving Neal backwards. “We do this in Auror training, so I got this!”

Neal retreated to the benches to sit with Jessa, watching jealously as Graeme hooked one arm around Will and threw himself into meditation. Neal had heard that warfare in the mental arts could be fascinating, whole panoramas created and destroyed, but he had never picked up much skill at it. He had some skill at Occlumency, as most heirloom-casters did, and which John absolutely knew Will would have, but it was nothing on that level.

“I can’t even try to pay him off right now, can I?” Jessa asked, disgruntled, fiddling with her five remaining red bags.

“I’m sure you’ll have to pay him off anyway,” Neal said, wrapping an arm around her. “And if you don’t, it _is_ my money, so I’d like it back.”

“No way, I stole this money fair and square, and there’s a shopping spree in London with my name on it.”

Neal sighed, vowing to return to the topic later if they didn’t spend it all, and looked back to the action.

Will, Graeme, and John were frozen, in eerie tableau, for almost half an hour before John shook his head, a wry grin coming across his face, and both Will and Graeme staggered to their feet. “Not bad, considering neither of you are Masters of the Mind Arts. And I have enough secrets on both of you now that if you try anything against my sister, I know exactly where to hit you to see that it hurts. I’ll take…”

Jessa was across the field in a flash, red bags in hand.

“Two of those, yeah. I think Gerry and I deserve a _really_ nice date. You pass my test.” He smirked and sauntered off, joining Francesca where she sat on a bench, watching the rest of the door games.

“That’s two challenges down,” Jessa said, slapping Will on the back. “Halfway there, but we only have three bags left, so we have to do better.”

“Unfortunately,” a familiar voice said, his voice haunted with a slight lisp that Neal could place anywhere, “your third challenge is a test of physical strength. Your siblings are permitted to help you, but I’m not sure even all four of you combined can defeat me.”

All four of them looked at each other: Graeme’s eyes were wide in horror, Will was pale even his mouth was fixed in determination, Neal was grimly resigned while Jessa looked almost excited.

“ _Chrisse_ ,” Neal said, turning around to face Alexander Willoughby Dragić. “You aren’t even a Kowalski, and you’re supposed to be in Serbia!”

The dhampir already had his sword out, and he was spinning loops with it casually in one hand. “Ah, but I had private business to see to in Britain, and when Aldon told me about your games, I could hardly help volunteering my time.”

“Aldon is _also_ not a Kowalski!”

“Yet,” Alex replied agreeably. “Aldon is not a Kowalski _yet_ , but I believe in him. Draw your weapons. Let’s fight.”

“I have three bags left,” Jessa said, quiet, pulling off her shawl and bag to set aside. She shook out her arms, her fan already in hand. “However we do this, we have to bargain him down to less than three bags.”

“ _Câlice_ , Will, you’re expensive to marry off,” Neal murmured, but Will had already pulled his sword from the air and had thrown himself at the dhampir. “Fine. Let’s go – four on one should give even that half-vampire hardass a tough time.”

Jessa had already launched a stream of fire at Alex, but Neal didn’t worry about it as he pulled his own sword and plunged into the fray. Her fire would skew off him, because they were blood, and because she didn’t want to hurt him.

He, unlike either Graeme or Will, had spent nearly three months some years ago training with Alex. Alex was _good_ , but he wasn’t undefeatable with the sword. As a strict matter of technique, Neal often thought that he had the man outclassed, but Alex was also absurdly strong and fast, which compensated. He had no sooner shoved Will back when Neal was there, throwing his own blade in a middle guard with a yell.

Alex brought his blade crashing down on Neal’s head, so he blocked and kneed his friend in the stomach. It had next to no effect, instead only making Alex laugh, so he ducked and rolled before Alex could bring his full strength to bear against him. Graeme was next, aiming a slash at Alex’s side, and he turned to engage.

They should have been better than they were, but Alex was good. The dhampir had drawn back to a wall, the wall opposite to the barracks and the castle, and Neal couldn’t help but think it was a very nice view for Tina somewhere. The difficulty of the wall was that he and his brothers couldn’t _flank_ the dhampir without getting in each other’s way – while Jessa’s fire spells might not hurt them, their blades certainly would.

Jessa was the most help. She stayed out of the way, hitting Alex with spells when she had a clear shot, while he and his brothers kept the dhampir distracted. It was her slashing and fire spells that left their marks, and it was her blow, one last Vertigo Hex, that made Alex reel. It was, luckily, Will who was engaging with him at that time, and he was fast to tackle the dhampir, dragging him into the dirt.

“Yield?” his brother panted, his sword pressed against the back of Alex’s neck.

“I yield,” Alex replied easily, his face buried in the snow. Will rolled off of him, allowing him to stand and look himself over.

There was a pause, and Neal’s eyes narrowed.

“I’m going to need new clothes to attend the ceremony tonight,” Alex said eventually, brushing himself off. “Unless you want me to show up with these burns and bloodstains?”

“You are the _worst_ at subtlety,” Neal groaned, even as Jessa pulled out one of the remaining red bags and held it out. “The absolute _worst_.”

“Only one?”

Neal had never seen the impassive dhampir sounding _disappointed_ before, but indeed he did. Jessa hesitated a second, glancing at Will, before reaching into her bag and adding a second one.

“Two?” Alex drew out the word, considering the bags. “You can surely do better than that. I went easy on you.”

Will shot Jessa a look, and even Jessa looked a little worried as she reached back into her bag and pulled out the last red bag, adding it to the pile with a shaky hand.

“Three left? Excellent.” Alex smirked as he plucked the bags out of Jessa’s hands. “I happen to also be in need of money. You pass my challenge.”

He sauntered away, joining John and Francesca on the bench.

“All _three?_ ” Graeme was hissing at Jessa. “There’s still one challenge left! What are we going to do?”

“What did you want me to do?” Jessa retorted, then she sighed. “Look, Francesca said that we were only allowed to help with the first three challenges, so I don’t know if he could pay this one off anyway… hopefully it’s like, a song and dance routine or something.”

“ _Ostie_ , it better not be,” Neal muttered. “Will, sing or dance? Kill me now.”

“And take your title? Don’t tempt me.” Jessa grinned, tugging him and Graeme to a bench. “Look, they aren’t going to ask him anything impossible—”

“They sure as hell did on that math test,” Graeme grumbled.

“So let’s just sit and enjoy it, eh?”

Neal laughed, feeling warm even in the snow, sandwiched between his oldest and his youngest siblings. It wasn’t often that he got to spend time with all of them anymore – with Graeme returning to Montréal after the war, Jessa still finishing school at Ilvermorny, and Will in Geneva, there just wasn’t much opportunity. At least they had Queenscove now, a huge ancestral home they could all come home to, anytime. He wrapped one arm around each of them, watching as Aldon Rosier, the Lord Rosier, strolled out into the lists.

“Your final challenge,” his friend said, the glimmer of a smile on his face, “is simple. You cannot ask for help with my test, but you need only answer this question truthfully. Do you, William Queenscove, love Porpentina Kowalski?”

Will didn’t hesitate. “Yes, with all my heart and soul.”

Neal couldn’t help but grin, even while Graeme and Jessa groaned in mutual disgust.

“Ugh, that was sappy. I’m dying.”

“Too much cheese. I’m lactose-intolerant.”

“It’s his _wedding,_ ” Neal whispered to them, not even trying to hide his grin. “If this isn’t a time to be cheesy and sappy and romantic and in love, then when is?”

“I don’t know if I believe in that kind of love,” Graeme muttered in reply. “Will is just a romantic sap. So are you, by the way.”

“So are our _parents_ ,” Neal retorted. “We come by it honestly. Don’t know where you and Jessa got your cynicism. And watch!”

Aldon had been silent, considering the statement. Not that Neal had any doubts – Aldon was just playing it up for dramatic effect, to make Will stew in uncertainty for a moment.

It wasn’t working, because Will was anything but uncertain. No, his second-eldest brother was now glaring at Aldon, daring the Truth-Speaker to contest the truth of his words. Another moment, and Aldon smiled – a genuine smile, not mocking or flippant or sarcastic, a rare look for the prickly man.

“He speaks truth,” he announced, turning back to the peanut gallery. “I don’t suppose there’s any of those red bags left, are there?”

Will shot Jessa a panicked glance, and she shrugged, looking every bit as worried. Neal checked his pockets, though he never carried money with him at home, and he didn’t need to check to know that Graeme was doing the same. They couldn’t make another vault run right now. Neal could probably make an offer, but if he did he would throw off Jessa’s auspicious numbering—

A peal of laughter cut into the awkward silence.

“I have yours!” Francesca called out from her seat on the bench, holding up two bags. “I got them early, then told Alex to clean them out to make them panic.”

“Fortunate.” Aldon tilted his head a little. “Congratulations. You pass my test and, as such, the door is unbarred.”

Will bolted for the barracks door, but Tina was already running out, a vision in white lace with a delicate bead and crystal headband, throwing herself at him.

“You’re not supposed to kiss until the wedding,” Aldon said, but he sounded amused. They were enthusiastically ignoring him, as if they hadn’t been together for seven years and living together for four.

“Shut it, Al,” Neal suggested, picking himself up from his bench with a bright grin. “Wait until it’s _your_ turn for door games.”

Will’s wedding was perfectly imperfect. The bridal party was horribly unbalanced, Will having all three of his siblings on one side, and Tina with just John and Francesca on the other, with no care for gender at all. The flowers were non-existent in the dead of winter, Queenscove was decked out in Christmas decorations rather than anything specifically for Will and Tina, and someone managed to spill over dinner that Will and Tina had actually filed the marriage paperwork at a courthouse in Switzerland six weeks ago and the ceremony was entirely for show. But the food was good, and his family was here, and everyone was safe and happy, and there was nothing more that Neal could have ever wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> Elsin: I hope you enjoyed your "look, the Queenscove siblings are not 50% dead!" light-hearted story! Wedding door games are always fun (for the bride) and given the proposal in VG, are probably somewhere in the future for the Queenscoves. Thanks for giving me a chance to write it, though I am really not good at fluffy light-hearted content!


End file.
